Water & Indoor Air Quality Equipment Maintenance in Orangeville, Alliston and Surrounding Areas

Your home is the place where you spend the most amount of time. As the central gathering place for you and your family, you want to make sure that everyone is breathing the best air possible. When your home’s air equipment needs some care and attention, it can be useful to have the experts come take a look.

You and Your House Breathe Easier

Everything from the vents to the filters to an air purifying system lead to better breathing quality for everyone involved. Most people know that humans are much like plants in that we need a good air source to live better lives. When our homes are having a difficult time breathing as well, it can put a strain on you and your family. Having a professional come out to service your home’s air equipment can save your mind the worry and your home from working double time.

Air Quality

Likening a human to a plant is accurate in how we function and are able to breathe. When the air equipment in your home isn’t working the way it should, it can affect the overall air quality. When you suspect that your filters, air exchanger or purifier aren’t working the way they should, calling to get them serviced can save your family breathing concerns for the future.

Not Just the Filters

There are many parts to your home’s air system. From air filters to air exchangers and even air purifiers there are a lot of moving parts to ensure you and your family are breathing well throughout the year. It’s always important to double check with the professionals if you think your home’s air equipment isn’t working the way that it should be. Never simply think that changing the filters will fix the problem as there could be something more serious at play in your home’s breathing.

Conclusion

From making sure that you change your air filters frequently to calling in the professionals occasionally for any of the large air equipment, you can always guarantee that you and your family are breathing easy in the future. Make sure to always check with a professional when your home’s air equipment isn’t functioning the way it was designed to. Now it’s time to get back to being the healthy human plants you are.

Anybody familiar with the cliché, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” recognizes one of the basic benefits of controlling humidity in your home: it can help you feel more comfortable. However, keeping humidity in check can also help control the quality of the air in your home. While everybody is a little different in terms of what feels comfortable, the EPA recommends maintaining humidity between 30% and 50% to help improve indoor air quality.1

How humidity affects your comfort

Humidity’s role in your comfort is supported by science. Your body cools itself by sweating, and how much you sweat is affected by the amount of moisture in the air. With more humidity in the air, your sweat evaporates more slowly, making you feel hotter and less comfortable.  In addition to making you feel less comfortable, high humidity can affect your home’s finishes and furnishings, including causing stains or peeling paint and wallpaper.

On the other side of the equation, low humidity, often associated with cooler climates or heated indoor air, can cause discomfort with dry skin, throats or nasal passages.

How humidity affects indoor air quality

Concentrations of indoor air pollutants can be affected by the humidity level in your home. As an example, high indoor humidity can be linked to an increased opportunity for mold growth. Keeping indoor humidity between the previously described 30 – 50% is recommended because, as stated by the EPA, “moisture control is the key to mold control.”

How to control humidity

You can help control the humidity in specific rooms or areas of your home using a portable dehumidifier, running the bathroom fan when showering, using the range hood fan when cooking, or using a vaporizer.

For a more controlled, whole-home approach to humidity control:

Run your central air conditioner during the summer, because it actually dehumidifies as it cools your home. Carrier® systems with Ideal Humidity System® technology ensures that they operate to extract the most humidity from your home as possible.
Install a whole-home humidifier to provide relief from overly dry winter air.
Consider adding whole-home ventilation, such as a Carrier® heat recovery ventilator (HRV) or energy recovery ventilator (ERV).

When properly maintained, your indoor heating and cooling system should provide many years of reliable comfort. One of the easiest ways you can help keep it operating at its best is through routine filter inspections and replacement. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, “Replacing a dirty, clogged filter with a clean one can lower your air conditioner’s energy consumption by 5% to 15%.”

Proper filter maintenance starts with regular, monthly inspections. How often you should actually replace the filter will depend upon what type it is. Each filter manufacturer should have a recommended replacement schedule. If not, use the following as a guide:

1-inch filter

1-inch filters are typically the most basic type available and should generally be replaced every 30 days.

Pleated filter

Pleated filters come in a variety of thicknesses and provide a greater surface area for filtration. These filters typically can provide up to 6 months of protection. Inspect the filter every month, and replace the filter if you see excessive dust/dirt buildup.

Electronic air cleaner / whole-home air purifier

Electronic air cleaners and whole home air purifiers like the Infinity® air purifier from Carrier use electronic filtering processes to remove airborne particles from the air. The Carrier® Infinity air purifier captures AND kills many airborne pathogens.*

These more advanced filtering devices typically include a removable filter that should be inspected and replaced per the manufacturer’s recommendations.

According to the EPA, indoor levels of pollutants are often significantly higher than outdoor levels. And, most homes have at least one air quality problem, ranging from temperature and humidity issues to particle allergens, chemical pollutants and elevated carbon dioxide levels.

Brought on by everyday activities like cooking and cleaning, indoor air pollutants can put you and your family at risk, while generally making for a less comfortable, less efficient home. For instance, carbon dioxide levels in today’s “tight”, energy-efficient residences can quietly climb above 1,000 parts per million. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in many common household products such as cleaners, dry-cleaned clothing, ink-jet printers, pesticides and air fresheners, can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, cause difficulty breathing and nausea, and damage the central nervous system as well as other organs according to Lung.org.

Fortunately, there are a number of products on the market that are designed to enhance and improve indoor air quality through filtration, ventilation and humidity control. Many of these products can be installed by Don’s Heating and Cooling. When you consider that Canadians on average spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors according to the EPA, it’s easy to see why indoor air quality products can be an attractive addition to people’s homes.

Here’s a look at some common indoor air quality issues and products that can provide a solution:

ISSUE: INDOOR AIR POLLUTION

• Pollen and mold spores enter through doors and windows
• Bacteria and viruses can linger in your air
• Fine dust particles get kicked up from floors and furniture
• Dander and hair fall from pets

SOLUTION: AIR PURIFIER

ISSUE: DRY INDOOR AIR

• Dry nasal passages
• Discomfort of dry, itchy skin
• Annoying static shocks

SOLUTION: HUMIDIFIER

ISSUE: EXCESSIVE HUMIDITY

• Airborne irritants such as dust mites and mold
• Warping or structural damage to wood flooring or home furnishings

SOLUTION: DEHUMIDIFIER

ISSUE: POOR AIR QUALITY

• Stale air
• Higher than average utility costs
• Pollutants from carpet off-gassing, paint, household chemicals

SOLUTION: AIR VENTILATOR

ISSUE: CONTAMINANTS INSIDE YOUR HVAC SYSTEM CAN BECOME AIRBORNE

• Mold spores inside the cooling coil
• Bacteria and fungi inside the cooling coil
• Contaminants can become airborne and circulate through your HVAC system

SOLUTION: UV LIGHTS

ISSUE: AIRBORNE IRRITANTS TRAPPED WITHIN THE HOME

• Dust, dirt, pollen and more circulated through heating and cooling vents
• Polluted indoor air
• Damage to home furnishings
• Reduced performance of home comfort systems

SOLUTION: AIR FILTRATION

HOW TO READ A HOME FOR INDOOR AIR QUALITY ISSUES

Testing Home Air Quality

Although indoor air quality isn’t always something you can see, there are contractors equipped to help you out. Using an indoor air analyzer, a qualified Air Quality Analyzer can provide test results in about 30 minutes, then get right to work addressing your home’s air quality issues by recommending an indoor air quality product designed to solve the problem.